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  • © 2011

Educational Encounters: Nordic Studies in Early Childhood Didactics

  • Presents a new perspective on early childhood education (didactics), based on empirical research in naturalistic settings with children 1-8 years old
  • Introduces the concept of didactics in a form relevant to early childhood education
  • Presents illustrations of Nordic early childhood education, for which there is an international interest
  • Covers a number of theoretical frameworks for studying and conceptualising children’s learning and development
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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Table of contents (13 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages 1-1
  2. Introduction and Frame of the Book

    • Niklas Pramling, Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson
    Pages 1-13
  3. Early Mathematics in the Preschool Context

    • Elisabet Doverborg, Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson
    Pages 37-64
  4. Opening Doors for Learning Ecology in Preschool

    • Susanne Thulin, Gustav Helldén
    Pages 65-84
  5. Moral Discoveries and Learning in Preschool

    • Eva Johansson
    Pages 127-139
  6. Gender Learning in Preschool Practices

    • Anette Hellman
    Pages 141-156
  7. Democracy Learning in a Preschool Context

    • Anette Emilson
    Pages 157-171
  8. Early Childhood Literacy and Children’s Multimodal Expressions in Preschool

    • Elisabeth Mellgren, Karin Gustafsson
    Pages 173-189
  9. Pedagogical Quality in Preschool: A Commentary

    • Sonja Sheridan
    Pages 223-242
  10. Didactics in Early Childhood Education: Reflections on the Volume

    • Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson, Niklas Pramling
    Pages 243-256
  11. Back Matter

    Pages 252-252

About this book

Qualitative analyses of young children’s learning in natural settings are rare, so this new book will make educators sit up and pay attention. It lays out a Nordic, or continental European teaching and learning paradigm whose didactic framework is distinct from the Anglo-American system. This analysis, which features contributions and case studies from researchers in a range of subjects, is built on principles such as the learner’s perspective, establishing sufficient intersubjectivity, ‘pointing out’, and informing experience linguistically. After clarifying some historical background, the book discusses the contemporary emphasis in early childhood education on pedagogy/learning. What should ‘didactics’ mean in educating young children?

The book examines the opportunities for learning that teachers provide for children in early childhood education, as well as how children respond to these opportunities. It presents empirical studies from a variety of naturalistic settings, including mathematics, making visual art, ecology, music, dance, literacy and story-telling, as well as learning about gender, morality and democracy. The authors seek to answer key questions about the processes involved in both teaching and learning. What challenges do teachers face as they try to expand children’s knowledge in various fields of learning? How do they respond to these challenges, and what can we learn about children’s corresponding uptake? What now requires further research? One key distinction in researching children’s learning is between studies that look at ‘process’ and those that analyze ‘product’. In the tradition of Piaget, Vygotsky and Werner, as well as Mercer and Valsiner’s more recent work, this book advocates the importance and relative rareness of the former type of study.

Editors and Affiliations

  • , Department of Education, Communication a, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Niklas Pramling, Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access